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By Mayo Clinic staffHow you learn about your child's condition — if your child has dwarfism — will depend on the degree to which it affects his or her development. Disproportionate dwarfism is usually apparent at birth or early in infancy. Proportionate dwarfism may not be diagnosed until later in childhood or adolescence if your child isn't growing at an expected rate.
Well-baby visits and annual checkups
It's important to take your child to all regularly scheduled well-baby visits and annual appointments throughout childhood. These visits are an opportunity for your child's doctor to track growth, note delays in expected growth and identify other problems in physical development.
Questions you should be prepared to answer might include the following:
- What concerns do you have about your child's growth or development?
- How well does he or she eat?
- Is your child reaching certain milestones in development, such as rolling over, pushing up, sitting up, crawling, walking or speaking?
- Are other members of the family very short, or have others experienced growth delays?
- Do you have a measuring chart on which you've marked your child's height that you can show the doctor?
- Do you have photographs of your child at various ages to show the doctor?
Talking to your doctor about dwarfism
If your family doctor or pediatrician believes that your child exhibits signs of dwarfism, you may want to discuss the following questions:
- What diagnostic tests will we need?
- When will we know the results of the tests?
- What specialists will we need to see?
- How will we screen for disorders or complications that are commonly associated with the type of dwarfism affecting my child?
- How will you monitor my child's health and development?
- Can you suggest educational materials and local support services regarding dwarfism?
- Dwarfism: Frequently asked questions. Little People of America. http://www.lpaonline.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=44397&orgId=lpa. Accessed June 24, 2007.
- Carter EM, et al. Advances in understanding etiology of achondroplasia and review of management. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2007;19:32.
- Pseudoachondroplasia. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=pseudoachondroplasia. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=spondyloepiphysealdysplasiacongenita. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Diastrophic dysplasia. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=diastrophicdysplasia. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Achondroplasia. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=achondroplasia. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Hypochondroplasia. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=hypochondroplasia. Accessed July 8, 2008.
- Trotter TL, et al. Health supervision for children with achondroplasia. Pediatrics. 2005;116:771.
- Horton WA, et al. Achondroplasia. The Lancet. 2007;370:162.
- Baujat G, et al. Achondroplasia. Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology. 2008;22:3.
- Hypopituitarism in children resulting in short stature. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec12/ch151/ch151e.html. Accessed July 15, 2009.
- Richmond EJ. Diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency in children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed June 13, 2009.
- Turner syndrome. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. http://turners.nichd.nih.gov/clinical.html. Accessed June 28, 2009.
- Turner Syndrome. Genetics Home Reference. http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition=turnersyndrome. Accessed July 8, 2008.
- Rogol AD. Causes of short stature. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Rogol AD. Diagnostic approach to short stature. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 8, 2009.
- Attanasio AF, et al. Growth hormone and the transition from puberty into adulthood. Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America. 2007;36:187.
- Learning about Turner syndrome. National Human Genome Research Institute. http://www.genome.gov/19519119. Accessed June 28, 2009.
